“What did you say?” Margaret murmured in alarm, stepping toward his desk.
“No, we will not be going.”
“But he is your cousin, and your friend, supposedly from how you introduced him at our ball. Why would we not go to such an event at Christmas?”
“Because I have no wish to attend.” He turned the pages of his accounting book.
“Very well, you do not have to go.” She folded up the letter in her grasp and turned to the door, walking back out.
“Wait! What does that mean?” Theodore called after her.
“You cannot call me to your heel like a dog.”
“Thenpleasewait,” Theo barked. She halted a little in the doorway, turning back to face him, raising her eyebrows and showing exactly what she thought of his tone. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that even if you have no intention going, I shall then reply to Lord St Vincent.” She held the letter up for him to see.“He is now my cousin, too, and I shall not spend the whole of Christmas here locked at home. I shall be going to his dinner party, whether you wish to come or not.” With finality, she turned and walked out of the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Margaret!” Theodore was on his feet before he knew what he was doing. He threw down the accounts book, rounded the desk and marched out of the room, hastening after Margaret. “You cannot go without me. Think of what rumors would start. People would suspect we’d had an argument.”
“Hardly,” Margaret said with a sigh. “Many a couple do not attend events together. An excuse can be made for your absence. You’ll be too busy with work or have a headache from your incessant concentration on tidying everything you see before you.”
“How kind of you,” he muttered darkly, pursuing her through the house.
He had presumed she would go to the sitting room. It seemed to be her favorite place in the house, but he was wrong. She marched into the distance of the house, heading toward the small parlor where they barely spent any of their time.
“You cannot go without me.” He followed her into the room.
Margaret sat down at a writing bureau tucked into the corner.
“I intend to reply now to your cousin and tell him that I shall be attending.”
“You cannot!”
“Why not?” Margaret said, perfectly calmly.
Theodore turned to the mantelpiece. It didn’t matter that every ornament on that surface was already perfectly aligned. He busied himself straightening them again, just in case one was a little off.
“Because I have no wish to share a dinner party with my cousin this Christmas.”
“I thought you liked him.”
“I do,” he insisted, straightening the last ornament about three times. “He is a great friend, a good man, but that does not mean I wish to spend an extended period of time with him this Christmas.”
“Why not?” Margaret asked plainly, showing no feeling or emotion in his voice.
Theodore turned and rested his elbow on the mantelpiece.
Because I do not wish to see him charming you.
The words were stifled in his throat. Cedric had a habit of charming every woman he ever came into contact with. At the ball, nothing had been different. Cedric had charmed Maggie with utter ease, making her fall under his spell. Theodore had watched it with anger, jealous of just how easily Cedric could make Maggie smile and dance with him.
“You can give no clear answer.” Margaret sighed and lifted a quill pen and fresh ink from a drawer. “If you do not wish to go, that is fine, but I shall be going.”
“Fine, then I shall go with you.”
“What?” She jerked her head around.
